Hi Ron,
Sorry it has taken me so long to get back to you on this. First of all, the University of Alberta would be happy to accept a portion of the proceeds of your product sales as a donation to mad cow related research. Obviously you will decide on what "portion" of the proceeds are donated. Our responsibility will be to ensure the donation is directed to mad cow related research. We will share information about the dollars your company donates to the University only with your consent. You can state on your website and on your companies promotional materials that a portion of the proceeds from each sale will be directed to mad cow research at the University of Alberta. The one proviso would be that the products, website and promotional material remain tasteful. As a public institution the U of A does not want to be seen as profiting in any way from the sales of a "controversial" product. We have spoken about this and I am comfortable with your assurance that things will remain family friendly.
You may go ahead and establish a link on your website to the U of A website. Our web services has recommended that you use a text link in order to avoid the challenges of keeping up to date and consistent with our logo and visual image policies.
I have included an article below that describes a new centre established at the U of A that specifically addresses research related to BSE.
We look forward to working with you and hope you are successful in your business venture. Please let me know if you have any questions.
Thanks,
--Mike
Mike Meldrum, CFRE
Director of External Relations
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Faculty of Agriculture, Forestry, & Home Economics
University of Alberta
2-14 Agriculture/Forestry Centre
Edmonton, AB
Canada T6G 2P5
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Research centre established to investigate protein folding diseases
By Richard Cairney, ExpressNews Staff
October 28, 2004 - Sixteen University of Alberta researchers with a combined total of $41 million in current research funds have banded together to form a research centre investigating diseases such as Alzheimer's and Mad Cow Disease.
The researchers have formed the Alberta Centre for Prions and Protein Folding Diseases. Prions are related to misfolding of proteins, an event which is related to Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE), Alzheimer's Disease, Parkinson's Syndrome and Chronic Wasting Disease.
BSE has been an especially high priority research issue in Canada since an Alberta cow was discovered to have contracted the disease one and a half years ago. With the U.S. border closed to cattle exports, the cattle industry in Alberta and across Canada has suffered billions of dollars in financial losses.
Dr. Andy Greenshaw, associate vice-president (research), says work conducted at the new centre will help solve mysteries of the disease, tackling it from a wide variety of disciplines. He has attended meetings to discuss BSE and efforts to solve the cattle industry's problems, and says the new U of A centre is essential in making ground on the disease.
"At all of these meetings someone stands up – from the Cattlemen's Association or from one of the companies running a feedlot – and says, 'Look, this is really hurting Albertans. We don't care who solves it and we don't care how they solve it, we just want someone to solve this for us,'" Greenshaw said. "And this centre is the first cohesive group of researchers who have stood up and said they are going to tackle this."
The centre's researchers, which include seven Canada Research Chairs, come from diverse backgrounds and fruitful collaborations may spring from places few would have imagined. Greenshaw said the researchers cover everything from basic research, "right out to environmental risk management for detection and eradication of prions in the environment and wastewater management . . . some of them are already working on prions and protein folding, and what they will do is expand and integrate their research activities. They will build new collaborations and look for ways to tackle this problem."
Dr. Stephen Moore of the Department of Agricultural, Food and Nutritional Science is researching the genetics of BSE, hoping to discover why some animals contract the disease and why some don't. He's excited about the interdisciplinary nature of the group.
"One of the big issues here is waste management – what do we do with the parts of animals you can't use? What do you do with a couple of million cow brains and spines every year? We have engineers and people in waste management research who are working on that."
Dr. Linda Pilarski, an oncologist, has been working with electrical engineering professor and researcher Dr. Chris Backhouse on a hand-held device that could detect cancer and analyse it to help determine the best course of treatment, quickly and inexpensively. Pilarski, one of the new centre's researchers, feels interdisciplinary work is the only way to go in solving prion and protein-folding problems.
"I think this is just critical," she said. "For such complex diseases the ability of people to view this in different ways is so important. This centre will bring people together in what I expect will be a very productive way."
Pilarski hopes her research could lead to live tests for BSE – something that is presently unavailable. "I think the prions are in the blood, and they could be detected," she said.
Dr. Richard Rachubinski of the Department of Cell Biology has been named director of the centre. "The researchers are very enthusiastic about this," said Greenshaw, who said the centre will draw more research funding and expertise.
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